House Energy & Commerce Committee asks for state's plan to cope with loss of San Onofre

Several Democratic members of Congress, including ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Henry Waxman of California along with Anna G. Eshoo, Lois Capps, Doris O. Matsui, and Jerry McNerney sent a letter on Friday (April 26) to the California Independent System Operator asking to see a detailed plan to ensure the stability of the state’s electric grid in the now all-but-certain event that the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station remains offline for another summer.

“It is crucial that grid reliability be maintained even if the San Onofre plant is unsafe to operate,” say the Representatives.

Without careful planning, the
loss of the generation capacity from
San Onofre could raise a challenge for
grid reliability in California this
summer. We request that you provide us
with a detailed description of
California ISO's plan to ensure
adequate generation capacity and
voltage support during the coming
summer in the event that both units at
San Onofre remain offline or that one
unit runs at only 70 percent power. As
part of your response, please provide
the specific steps California ISO and
other actors with which it coordinates
intend to take to compensate for the
potential absence of San Onofre's
generation. In addition, please
provide California ISO's assessment of
the likelihood of grid reliability
problems occurring this summer as a
result of the situation at San
Onofre.